User talk:Scarbrow/Archive2
This is an archived page. Please don't leave comments here since this page is not actively monitored. Contact Scarbrow at his talk page instead. Game Updates I'll take a stab at keeping the game updates current. Also I modded your original thread on the forum into a general Wiki request thread. Thought that might be helpful especially in the long run. Also I left a couple posts from the Game Updates thread in the forum out as they were more or less duplicates. Then I noticed the intention is to mirror the forum so I'll add them in - it may be a bit later. Also let me know if I fouled anything up or you want something done differently as I'll try to keep it current. Also now that I've got my feet a bit wetter I'll try to give a little more help in other areas - time permitting. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Old School (talk • ) Edit: Forgot to officially sign this - part of the learning curve. --Old School 22:22, 1 August 2009 (UTC) Old School Game Updates I'll change Official Updates to Game Updates when I add the other forum posts which be should be later tonight. --Old School 22:20, 1 August 2009 (UTC) Extra Image Hi. I uploaded a map image and forgot the naming convention you told me about so I uploaded a corrected version. Could you delete the extra image (The_Demonscourge_Part_1_The_Abandoned_Mine.jpg)? The corrected one is Map_The_Demonscourge_Part_1_The_Abandoned_Mine.jpg <- don't delete this one. Thank you. --Octarinemage 20:57, 2 August 2009 (UTC) Mini-Quest Box Hi. There's a lot of small quests all over the place that only take up a few paragraphs or less and I thought it would be nice to standardize them by putting them in something similar to the Quest Box but without the title linking to anything. (Bear with me if I'm not explicating this correctly.) A good example of what I'm trying to say is the Quests page. It's peppered with quest boxes which look very neat and professional. But then it's interspersed with all those 'mini' quests written in a variety of styles, making the page bloated, busy, cluttered and just plain ugly. What I'm looking for is a minimal quest box with nothing but Title, Location, Requirements, Walkthrough, Rewards, and Notes, a sort of vanilla quest box, so to speak. We have any templates like that? --Octarinemage 11:35, 3 August 2009 (UTC) Thank you for your response, but it seems I didn't make myself clear enough. Here's what I would like to see: I want to put the 'small' quests (verbatim/as is) that don't warrant their own page into their own framed box with a colored header like the quest box. That's all. On the pages where they are found. That would make them visually uniform with the quest boxes already there and eliminate their now cluttered look. I don't see how that would impact spoilery as nothing would be changed but their appearance - that is, of simply being put in a box. Their content would remain unchanged. I can do that using HTML and inline style, but I'd rather not since a standardized method would be better. --Octarinemage 15:23, 3 August 2009 (UTC) TOC Limit on Quests Page Why is the TOC limited to 3 levels on the Quests Page? It would be easier to navigate if it was set to 4, don't you think? (And easier to edit, IMHO.) --Octarinemage 16:35, 5 August 2009 (UTC) Updating Questboxes I updated the questbox for . However on the Ashlyre page the old one is showing up. Is there any way to refresh it without updating the page?--Shadowblack 22:06, 6 August 2009 (UTC) :Thanks. In that case I'll wait until tomorrow and if it hasn't updated I'll force an update.--Shadowblack 22:15, 6 August 2009 (UTC) Formatted Tables I will take a stab at creating a class to format tables globally, using the Table template and CSS, when I have the time (probably this weekend). --Octarinemage 23:07, 6 August 2009 (UTC) Bear with me on this as I have an idea for a CSS class easily implemented to existing tables, and a table matrix template that will greatly ease the creation of tables (such as the XP rewards table, for example) as well as ease readability and maintenance by any editor. I will submit them to you for your perusal and appraisal when I am done. If you disagree or think I'm wasting my time, let me know. --Octarinemage 01:53, 7 August 2009 (UTC) Just practicing a little anonymity until I can get over myself. Don't worry about it. Thanks for the revert. --Octarinemage 02:33, 7 August 2009 (UTC) I have finished making a simpler table matrix maker. It can have up to 50 conditional rows, more than enough for our uses here. This one only supports 2 columns though. I will expand upon it eventually and get the columns conditional too. (And maybe support column and row spanning. Who knows?) Please check out and let me know your thoughts. (By the way, it also relies on 3 other very small templates that I will document soon.) I will next be working on the CSS equivalent and will update you on that as I progress. --Octarinemage 18:37, 8 August 2009 (UTC) * Please check the table maker again. I've tested it extensively. Found the last bug which was just mislabled unnamed parameters. It works fine now. I've made it so it is very easy to use - easier than the standard wiki table (which it builds from in the background.) --Octarinemage 01:54, 11 August 2009 (UTC) * I have finished the CSS GrayScaleTable class I mentioned previously. Please check it out at my section of the Sryth Test Page. --Octarinemage 16:31, 11 August 2009 (UTC) * My replies to your questions are on my talk page. I decided they were too longwinded to add here. --Octarinemage 12:04, 12 August 2009 (UTC) * Please view Sryth Test Page#On Table Making Templates for a more detailed response to your last enquiry about the table2columns template. --Octarinemage 20:53, 12 August 2009 (UTC) * The file common.css is protected. I can't edit it. Would you please copy the GrayScaleTable css to it? I will then make a usage page for it with lots of examples. --Octarinemage 19:38, 13 August 2009 (UTC) ** I have fixed some cross-browser issues with the GrayScaleTable class dealing with inheritance and visibility. I have noted the changes and why and placed the new style sheet on the Sryth Test Page. I apologize but I must ask you again to edit the common.css and replace the old version with the fixed version. Once you are finished I will note the changes on the documentation page. Thank you again. --Octarinemage 21:59, 19 August 2009 (UTC) * I will make a separate document on the anatomy of the table2columnsrow template and include a link in the template's body itself pointing to it, as soon as I can. --Octarinemage 16:30, 14 August 2009 (UTC) ** Done. The page can be accessed here: Template:Table2columnsrow/Anatomy of table2columnsrow. --Octarinemage 16:48, 14 August 2009 (UTC) ** Done. The page for the CSS class GrayScaleTable is at Gray Scaling Tables. Please check it out when you have time and let me know what you think. --Octarinemage 19:56, 14 August 2009 (UTC) ** One thing I've always wanted to see on thise site is something like a Guideline for Editors on the Sryth Wiki. The Community Portal is great but does not really cite in specifics the available resources and current suggested guidelines for editing on the Sryth wiki. You could avoid a lot of effort and headaches if you had a section on What Not to Do (or something similar), for example. A section on making your editing life easier and more productive could help. The editors themselves could add sections that share their stories, knowledge and intuitions that could help other editors. How about a section on Why We Do It This Way, to avoid repeating yourself? Mainly, a section on Tools of the Trade could list what's available and what's not. It is only limited by what one can imagine. --Octarinemage 12:23, 15 August 2009 (UTC) * I've finished the table maker with variable number of columns at Template:TableX. Right now it's set to only have a maximum of 99 rows divided by the number of columns. I can always add more if needed. And I will do as you suggest in your last message concerning my user page. Thanks. --Octarinemage 12:33, 19 August 2009 (UTC) ** I've added another 51 cells, bringing the total to 150 rows divided by the number of columns. That should be enough for anyone's casual use. Octarinemage 14:44, 19 August 2009 (UTC) * I'll look into tableX and see what it's doing for that table you tried. It may have to wait til tomorrow as I have a prior engagement for tonight. --Octarinemage 01:42, 22 August 2009 (UTC) ** Please see my talk page for my most current findings. --Octarinemage 02:05, 22 August 2009 (UTC) *** Fixed. Missing pipe. Thanks for telling me. Whew! --Octarinemage 02:34, 22 August 2009 (UTC) Formatting suggestions please Hi Scarbrow, i have added quit a bit of information about exploring Fogbough Outer Wood. But i feel there are several issues i need to take care of: 1. Some information would qualify as spoiler i think 2. Some of the encounters are easily large enough to qualify as adventure. Should these be move to separate pages? 3. The page has become a bit cluttered Your thoughts please of how i should go about tidying up--Fireblade2 08:42, 8 August 2009 (UTC) Sryth Encyclopedia If you look at the Thematic column of the encyclopedia you'll see a included with each entry. That's because you have an extra at the end of the TableRow3 template. Thought you'd like to know since I wasn't sure if I should remove it. --Octarinemage 10:30, 9 August 2009 (UTC) On MR I understand. When I compiled the data from those earlier quests, I actually come up with a range from 3+ to 12+. It never occurred to me that the mean was more informative that the low end. When I first started playing and using the wiki, my logic was "What's the lowest my MR has to be at 3+?". So what I set down is the minimum value MR has to be at 3+. Would it be more informative to add a range of values, such as 3+, 9+, 12+? --Octarinemage 12:53, 14 August 2009 (UTC) Editors Guide I have made a tentative outline page of what I had in mind. See it here: Sryth Wiki Editors Guide. Let me know what you think. If you approve, I will make the keyword redirect pages. If it is successful and useful, maybe it can be added to the Community menu option and to the welcome message for new users. Delete or add anything you please. --Octarinemage 17:23, 16 August 2009 (UTC) I don't know how it got added to the templates category since it's not a template. How do I reverse that? --Octarinemage 02:27, 17 August 2009 (UTC) Nice additions. If there's anything else you can think we might have forgot, let me know. I will be watching and expanding the articles section on a regular basis as I find more interesting and relevant sources on this site to add to the list. I have also created the redirect pages. I hope I didn't jump the gun there. I propose you add it as Editors Guide to the Community submenu on the sidebar. Thanks for the support. --Octarinemage 15:41, 17 August 2009 (UTC) Editor in Limbo Have I been banned or something? I can't log in to the site. Once or twice I got a message saying Wikia was having problems. (I use IE8.) It keeps coming up with Google ad errors and errors with Wikia's StaticChute page, whatever that is. Plase leave a message on my user page and tell me what's going on. I see Hastifer was on and edited no more than 2 minutes ago, and I haven't been able to get on for about 5 hours now. Octarinemage 8/19/09, 11:51 am. * I got in with Firefox, but it's weird I still can't log in with IE8. Bah, Firefox is faster anyway... --Octarinemage 19:11, 19 August 2009 (UTC) Updated GrayScaleTable The top and left borders are not missing. They're white. Dang, I forgot our pages are white. My HTML editor uses a semi-cyan background. I was trying for a bevel, outset look. I guess it's best to make the border mono-colored for uniformity. It's fixed on the test page. Also, I used Micronerd's IE simply because it's the most widely used, but I greatly prefer Firefox. I still can't log in with IE now due to its non-standard Javascript handling. The slowdowns, if you watch the status line as a page loads, is mostly caused by GoogleAds. At times it seems to freeze the browser as it takes a while to return control from its stupid function calls. I experience it less with Firefox. IE would 'freeze' for 2-3 minutes at a time. Wikia must have changed their login script lately (my guess) to use a more recent version of Javascript, which of course Microbrain is not 100% standards compliant with. That's why I'm sure Bill Gates will never go to Heaven. --Octarinemage 13:29, 20 August 2009 (UTC) You don't see a solid left border? I do. And I'm on FF too. Try doing a null edit of the test page to update your cache. I find the Shift+Reload doesn't always do what it promises, but a null edit in the editor always works. You might notice a 1-pixel indent on the top left of the caption. There's no helping that on browsers like FF. It looks fine on IE and Netscape. That's a legacy problem dealing with tables. Captions are rarely used with a background color or border because they're usually not part of the data a table is used for. There's a workaround that uses relative positioning to shift it 1 pixel to left, but that would would look off on IE and Nutscrape. On top of that, captions rarely have borders either. The border you usually see around one, if any, is the table border. I added a border to it to eliminate the flat, borderless look it has through CSS. If we remove the caption altogether from the table makers and use a standard spanned table cell instead, then we'll have problems combining classes with the table makers (like adding the class, sortable). Let me know what you want to do: 1) remove the border from the caption and leave it flat looking; 2) let it stand as it is. It's not really unaesthetic either way. --Octarinemage 15:36, 20 August 2009 (UTC) I nearly missed that part about the 'Sryth-like' skin and whatnot. Intriguing idea. I will ask Jodelle about it. Thanks. --Octarinemage 15:48, 20 August 2009 (UTC) Thanks for telling me about Firebug!!! That's the sweetest extension I've ever seen. --Octarinemage 17:37, 20 August 2009 (UTC) Map Directions I've created a boxed text map directions template at Template:MapDirections for your inspection and approval. I have included it on the Wurmwrit's Farm page for testing purposes. If you do not think it is necessary or appropriate, I will revert the changes and mark the template for deletion. It's for pages that can't use the TysaNavTableSmall template. I thought it would be nice to have an easily viewed tree-style directions on how to get to that location ingame. I messaged Jodelle about your skin idea and have not received a reply yet. I will inform you as soon as I speak with her. --Octarinemage 14:44, 21 August 2009 (UTC) I'll implement the template wherever it seems needed and consider making it more universal in the sense of accommodating the idiosyncratic style of our beloved GM. Thanks for the links about the wiki 'skin'. I'll investigate further. As far as being an admin, experience is usually a matter of being in the right place at the right time or having a knack for asking the right questions. Were I to accept the position, it would have to be only on a temporary basis. I am currently going through a minor upheaval in my personal life as I am in the process of selling my home to go on future adventures. There's a window of about 2-3 months before all eventually culminates in my traveling a lot. (This might explain the hurried manner I sometimes exhibit about business.) If you can use me for that brief time, then I accept, and my thanks to you for your patience and support. Sidenote: I have a few laptops so I won't completely disappear from the online scene. :) --Octarinemage 23:37, 21 August 2009 (UTC) I've redone mapDirections to work as we discussed (to account for Senor GM's peculiarities). I was about to implement them on pages that needed it when I realized that some of the locations have TysaNavTableSmall on them. I was under the impression that TysaNavTableSmall was mainly for map quadrant pages as it just indicates the general location and does not really break down the actual paths. However, I thought it prudent that I ask you first before implementing this sitewide and/or adding it to those pages. Let me know if you have any objections. I have also gathered a great deal of information on the monaco skin and viewed some fantastic examples of other wikias that have done such superlative jobs that Wikia lists them as some of their favorites examples (pray we be so lucky). I've downloaded all the background images from Sryth that we need. I must remember to take into account the User skin preferences. It's coming along slowly, which is as it should be. --Octarinemage 15:15, 22 August 2009 (UTC) I hope you have my Talk page watched. My replies and discussions concerning the skin will be there henceforth. --Octarinemage 21:23, 22 August 2009 (UTC) You want the mapDirections only on the location pages. Is that right? --Octarinemage 11:54, 23 August 2009 (UTC) Skin NO! That's not what I wanted to do. The instructions on that page about changing monaco was misleading. I am so sorry. Will turn it back. I was away on business for a couple of hours. --Octarinemage 00:18, 24 August 2009 (UTC) Damnit. This is the skin for the Age of Conan site I visited. I have no idea how this happened. I did nothing on their site but viewed it. I deleted the User:Octarinemage/monaco.css suggested by that article for testing. --Octarinemage 00:24, 24 August 2009 (UTC) After the last fiasco, I've become more cautious about how to approach this issue. Their suggested method for passing the user skin to the end of an URL did not work as anticipated and I'm still looking into it. --Octarinemagetalk 22:00, 26 August 2009 (UTC) Re: Inuse I added a line to common.css for the td.mbox-image class to vertically align it and that worked. --Octarinemage 05:11, 24 August 2009 (UTC) BTW, is there a way to archive my Talk page? It's getting pretty big. --Octarinemage 06:24, 24 August 2009 (UTC) Ok. Will do. (I didn't know how to format the 4 tildes, so this should be good enough.) Octarinemage 14:31, 24 August 2009 (UTC)talk Got it. Octarinemagetalk 14:47, 24 August 2009 (UTC) I've made a couple of edits to the Inuse template; a little cosmetics, and a small tweak to the time param. --Octarinemagetalk 21:57, 26 August 2009 (UTC) Re: Foe * Is it ok if I work on this and implement the ideas you outlined? I suggest a web-safe color scheme (all very light background colors) of: #CCFFCC=default , #CCFFFF=subdue , and #FFFFCC=nonlethal . What do you think? --Octarinemagetalk 16:27, 24 August 2009 (UTC) * I've cleaned it up a little and will work on it some more later when I come back from an appointment. --Octarinemagetalk 19:17, 24 August 2009 (UTC) * Should I base the algorithm for solving MR ranges on the table at Melee Rating and to-hit numbers? Or did you have something else in mind? --Octarinemagetalk 22:52, 24 August 2009 (UTC) Re: The Giants Could you take a look at Quest:The Giants - Part II - Stonesong and tell me why I'm getting the error? Could you also take a look at The Giants and tell me if I should remove the Questbox at the top. It was added to make it show up on the Quests List and in Hawklor, but I don't think it was the correct way to do it. Please see here also. --Octarinemagetalk 15:50, 26 August 2009 (UTC) * Points taken. I didn't mean to sound ungracious or controlling and I apologize to any concerned if it came across that way. I personally don't think sagas should have questboxes on their top for the reason I outlined on Hastifer's talk page: they are not quests. They are an opinion someone has about a set of quests, an opinion that factually does not follow the game. Nowhere ingame is The Giants treated as one long quest except as narrative. As such, and in keeping with one of the tenets of a wikipedia to be neutral in its views and treatment of articles, then my vote is for not having them no matter how tempting it is. In the earlier days of computing, Microsoft was condemned, and rightfully so, for its 'creeping featurism', that is, its philosophy of putting as many gizmos and gadgets in an application because 'the more the better'. This historically has been proven to introduce more bugs than not and they are still reeling from that overindulgence to this day. In the same vein, I consider pages that advertise themselves to be what they are not should be avoided and viewed with doubt. That's my two cents on the subject. As far as Hastifer is concerned, I believe I owe him an apology and I will do so immediately. It's not the first or last time I've put my shoe in my mouth and it is just my misfortune I've perhaps grown accustomed to the taste of leather. --Octarinemagetalk 21:43, 26 August 2009 (UTC)